A Kenyan is among 12 semi-finalists in a continent wide enterpreneural competition for seed capital of $200,000 in the Kwesé #goGettaz competition.
They include entrepreneurs in for-profit and not-for-profit businesses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. They will be assessed on their business sustainability, originality, social benefit and scalability.
The Kwesé Inc #GoGettaz competition received over 4800 entries last August when it launched on Econet Global founder Strive Masiyiwa’s Facebook page. The top scorers won online quizzes, then asked to submit written pitches. Winners progressed to a social media voting phase where the semi-finalists made their online pitches and then used social media to lobby votes for their ventures from the general public globally. This stage closed on 30 November with 50million combined votes tallied.
They will pitch these ideas to a live audience in Nairobi Garage this Thursday, where a combination of votes garnered from their social media shares and final scores from the upcoming pitch session will be used to select the six top finalists.
The best three women and three men will pitch in a grand finale the next day at Strathmore University, where two winners will get each $100,000 (Sh10.32 million) for investing in their projects, as well as a two week mentorship in South Africa.
The technology and social media-driven $200,000 USD Kwesé Inc competition is the largest of its kind in Africa.
The two winners will not only win investment in their businesses, but as inaugural Kwesé Entrepreneur Fellows, will also receive direct mentorship with Masiyiwa in Kwesé TV offices in South Africa, as well as the opportunity to interact with other leading African entrepreneurs and innovators, and take part in other Kwesé Inc initiatives planned for later this year.
